These are the SOILS we nurture to grow
our crops, grass, and trees; the WATER that nourishes
our crops, our trees, our livestock, and ourselves...
and which is ultimately and perfectly naturally recycled
and used again as clean water by our neighbors downstream.
Our FORESTS surround our productive valleys.

We take seriously our stewardship of these valuable assets, which we owned for decades. At the same time, the benefits we share
with wild animals and our hunt club members. While this
farm property is privately owned and our operations
are for-profit, our family operated for years under
a long-standing personal commitment to do things in
an eco-friendly and neighborly manner.Years
ago we were among the first in Virginia to practice
"no-tillage" agriculture, and we saw major
benefits from that practice, which is now widely accepted
nationwide.

We have also been involved with the Forestry Management Committee at James Madison's home "Montpelier", which has a large productive forest used in many different ways. A fascinating forest management issue.

As a direct result of this involvement, the Ballyshannon Fund was instrumental in conceiving and funding the magnificent new Demonstration Forest Trail at James Madison's home, Montpelier. It's worth a visit and it's a short, easy, walk.

We are long-time members of the American Tree Farm System, the oldest certifier
of sustainable forests in the United States, and we
are interested in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program that
continues to evolve here in Virginia. That initiative
encourages - and we try to follow - forest management
practices that are economically and environmentally
responsible and that maintain and improve long-term
forest health and productivity. We do that by hiring
only the most committed consulting foresters who advise
what and where to harvest our timber crops and how improve
out forests generally.

These FORESTS play a big part in buffering water and
in serving as a collection point for the lower "sponge" areas,
particularly so on our less-steep forested areas where
water "spends a while" soaking in deeply and
does not flow off as rapidly as it sometimes does on
steeper slopes. Accordingly, we have much of our steeper
land in permanent hardwood forests that are actively
managed both for occasional harvest of high-quality
hardwoods and - concurrently - enjoyment of our guests
on long walks or horseback trail rides.
Bundoran Farm vistors enjoy wildlife
like the
Ruffed Grouse and the Hunt Club members pursue
Whitetail Deer under the welcome guidance of the Virginia State Game
Commission and its Wildlife Bioligists. We incorporate
Timber Stand Improvement practices as well as having
a few small impoundments to collect water.

Conservation of land by encouraging productive agriculture is not a new idea. "Great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country"... William Jenning Bryan at the 1896 Democratic convention.